Podcasting is about to change for good (issue no. 26)
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Founder Education
This section is meant to help you grow as a leader, manager, or entrepreneur.
Company Building and Fundraising for the Freakishly Smart
In this piece David Frankel does an interview of rocket-scientist Natalya Bailey who has some gems for founders.
The best nugget of this article is on the scaling effects that having a good team on your vision. If you recruit the right mentors and hire the right managers, you are able to hit your milestones much faster than if you were to attempt to run through walls on your own.
There is a piece of every founder that wants to protect their idea. They don’t want anyone to mess with it, poke holes in it, or change it in anyway. It’s because we view our ideas like our children and no one wants to hear that their baby is ugly.
However, in this instance the more people that can give you insights based on their experiences, the better. They may reveal an aspect that you overlooked or give you some valuable context into why a strategy is working and how to make it more effective.
Business Strategy
This section is designed to help you improve your skills as a strategist and tactician.
Steli Efti (CEO of Close.io) talks about pricing product and building a sales team
There is nothing like getting sales tactics from a founder who builds sales software. In some ways, it’s redundant as their process is a little easier. On the other hand, establishing a process for selling a sales tool is as pure as it comes.
In this piece he maps how founders should be charging more at the outset and exactly what kind of ratio you should have to hit the “pricing sweet spot” (hint: 20% should say that it’s insanely expensive). He also touches on how to initially sell your product/service if you have to approach it with cold outreach in a new market.
Mental Snacks
This section was created to introduce ideas that may not related to starting a company, yet is important to your success as a founder.
How to Hack Your Habits w/ James Clear
A tidbit that I loved from this article is the quote - “Every behavior produces multiple outcomes across time”.
When it comes to building good habits and killing off bad ones, you have to be extremely intentional. There is no giving a half-effort, you need to be all in and commit to the sacrifice.
One thing I started last month is exercising every day that I’m able to. I didn’t want to make it an every day experience, but I also didn’t want to let myself off the hook.
In 31 days, I’ve worked out 25 of them and I can sense that I’m actually able to work and focus harder while working on KnowCap. Who knew?
Turns out when you create good behaviors your outcomes across time can be more productivity in other areas.
Around The Startup Ecosystem
This section was built to update you on important events, opinions, or pieces happening in the world of startups.
Spotify buys Anchor and Gimlet Media
This deal was a long time coming, but it’s also a window into what the media industry can shift into. The brilliance behind this deal is that Spotify in one day basically took the people who create the best content and the people who can turn the content into other pieces of creative (movie scripts, syndicated podcasts, tv shows, books, etc…) off the market.
Think about it…Spotify now owns the creative, distribution, and publishing channels for the audio renaissance. If they bet right, they could own the entire vertical at scale.
Becoming what Netflix could be for video if they were to start a screenwriting incubation program and then cherry pick all of the best ideas. Some would argue that’s what they are already beginning to do by adapting stories on Wattpad into Netflix Originals.
Goat gets $100M from FootLocker
In a move that reminds me of what should have happened between Blockbuster & Netflix, Footlocker has made a huge investment into the Goat app (a platform for selling and buying shoes).
If you have been living under a rock, both StockX and Goat have taken a strong position in the idea of an eBay for sneaker heads.
What I believe this investment signifies is that this model is valid and is the next generation for shoes and therefore fashion culture. By shifting assets into investing in promising startups it is saving itself by ultimately using the GOAT app as it’s own R&D into a new business model.